Workplace Communication: Giving Feedback

In your job, you may be required to give your staff negative feedback on their performance. It can be a tough thing as well meaning advice can often be lost in a sea of hurt feelings. With office harmony in mind, here are some things to remember the next time you try to help someone improve their performance:

Is the criticism fair? Are you focused on the outcome of work or the person who did the work. There is a difference between saying, “You did not achieve your performance goal,” and, “You’re a lazy bum who can’t get the job done.” One can start a discussion, the other is more appropriate when ending a career.

How would you react? While it can be dangerous to assume that everyone will react the same way you will, it can be a good thing to keep in mind. Remember, your goal is let the other person examine what went wrong and figure out how to prevent future problems. It’s very likely that her or she already knows that they performed below expectations. Your goal should be to refocus them on success.

Don’t go “bad cop.” If you interrogate the employee like a tough police detective, they may become so flustered that they won’t be able to think. The discussion could escalate into an argument. That doesn’t serve your big picture needs, unless you plan on firing them. If you don’t, then you want to empower the employee.

Try to start a discussion through the use of questions. Ask them how they could reach their sales goal by saying something like, “What do you think would be a good way to make sure that you reach your next sales goal?” Along those lines you may want to also ask, “How can I support you better so that you’ll achieve your goal?” You want this to be an exchange of ideas that ultimately gets the results that both parties want.

Is there a next step? After you’ve had a good discussion, make sure that you’ve outlined a next step that builds upon the discussion you’ve just had. This helps ensure that your employee won’t fall back on old behaviors that didn’t work and instead will be focused on making a positive change.

Shaded Advice

Sometimes it's great to get unsolicited feedback and/or criticism. An outside pair of eyes can be very helpful in assessing your strengths and weaknesses, especially when it comes to customer service. But problems can arise when advice is accepted from a source that isn't very good. Let me illustrate this point with a true story:

Jack is the house manager at a theater. Much of his time is spent dealing with customers who are never shy about sharing their opinions. One day at intermission, an obviously upset woman approached him.

"The theater is too dark," she declared with venom. "I can't see anything. I know you like these artsy performances but you're putting on a show in the dark."

Jack looked at the woman and paused before saying, "Ma'am, do you know that you're wearing sunglasses."

The woman stared at Jack for a moment and then turned and walked away without a word.

It's easy to give advice and feedback. That doesn't mean that you should accept it from all sources. It's too easy to let bad advice impact you negatively.